12 Reader Responses

1. albion Says:
   April 23rd, 2005 at 1:18 am

   Earliest mention of the term that I can recall is the book “High Weirdness by Mail” (Church of the SubGenius). Late 80’s I think.

2. shawn Says:
   April 23rd, 2005 at 3:12 am

   Tim,
   FOUCAULT’S PENDULUM: The premise of the book is that three (four?) guys create a computerized random story generator, which they initially use as a game to explain to themselves various historical oddities. They then go looking for evidence to support those randomly generated explanations, which they find.
   It’s long and jampacked with (fictional?) esoterica. There’s a lot about the Knights Templar, the Holy Grail and explorations of the Kabbalah.
   I enjoyed it quite a lot,
   A caveat: I haven’t been poking around on your site more than two or three days. I think that I “get you”, but even if not, I can’t resist piping up about some book that I’ve read.

3. Arizona Says:
   April 23rd, 2005 at 3:15 am

   Oddly enough, I find Robert Carroll’s “The Skeptic’s Dictionary” an excellent source on the occult in popular culture. As an example, see his article on Aleister Crowley:
   http://www.skepdic.com/crowley.html

   He doesn’t analyse occultism as a social phenomenon but he does record its quirks in a fairly bland and factual manner. Many so-called encyclopedias or compendia of the occult are somewhat fanciful. I feel pretty confident that Carroll has at least got his facts pretty straight.

   In terms of an analysis of the occult as social phenomenon you’d have to be on the right track with Jung and Jungians. Especially Jung’s idea of “enantiodromia” (the return of the repressed opposite). I don’t know of a single site that focuses on that specifically, though.

4. The Word Says:
   April 23rd, 2005 at 4:37 am

   “Foucault’s Pendulum” I would definitely recommend, especially with your interest in story-systems and all that.
   As for the occult in pop culture, “The Book of Lies” by the Disinformation Company is worthwhile. It touches on occult history, origins of some new age stuff, and a little conspiracy theory. Not bad, fairly basic, maybe not what you’re looking for. Otherwise, I’d try www.disinfo.com. Again, it’s not the best, but it’s a starting point…

5. Francis Says:
   April 23rd, 2005 at 7:14 am

   Hi Tim, for an overview of the new age:
   “The Aquarian Conspiracy: Personal and Social Transformation in the 1980s
   by Marilyn Fergusonis” is a classic - depends on what you view as being new age. i’d say it’s any pop spirituality since the sixties, some others also count older streams theosophy in it.

6. Joel Says:
   April 23rd, 2005 at 3:30 pm

   ‘Foucault’s Pendulum’ is a fantastic book, somewhat heavy going early on (not too much plot and a lot of Philosophy/meta-physics) but an awesome novel. I own a book about Masonry, self-published I assume, called ‘Secrets of the Lodge’ which rather hilariously makes out that the plans of the antagonists in Pendulum are real.

   I’d recommend it to every customer who comes in the bookshop I work in, but they’re more the JK Rowling/Grisham type …

   With regards to ‘High Weirdness’ wasn’t it coined by Robert Anton Wilson in his Illuminati series (not the novels with Shea)? I think this pre-dates the Church of ub-Genius …

   Only found your website (through Rigorous Intuition) a week ago, but enjoying it immensely. Keep up the good work.

7. Sunfell Says:
   April 23rd, 2005 at 10:24 pm

   I am not sure about the RA Wilson connection, but I can definitely say that the Church of the Subgenius and the Discordians was where I encountered it during their heyday in the 80s. It wouldn’t surprise if its roots weren’t in Wilson’s Illuminati writings.

   What’s next…FNORD?

   No, don’t answer that…

8. Occult Investigator Says:
   April 23rd, 2005 at 11:10 pm

   well why did the “High Weirdness” label suddenly start catching on so much online. i would say in the past like 4-6 months its picked up a whole hell of a lot

9. Arizona Says:
   April 24th, 2005 at 1:01 am

   This site on the sociology of knowledge might be useful:
   http://www.trinity.edu/~mkearl/knowledg.html
   http://www.trinity.edu/~mkearl/socpsy-5.html#ct (conspiracy theories)

10. ES Says:
    April 25th, 2005 at 3:46 pm

    I haven’t noticed more use of the “high weirdness” label. Plenty of chaos magicians have mapped pop culture onto occult systems. Like the Rocky Horror Picture Show Kabbala, Grant Morrison’s comics, etc.

11. juana Says:
    April 26th, 2005 at 3:49 pm

    1. i’m pretty sure ‘high weirdness’ is from R.A. Wilson’s “Illuminati” trilogy, but Ivan Stang and the Church of the SubGenius gave it staying power as a catchphrase. It’s now web-based, but there is still a ‘high weirdness’ on the subsite.
    2. It’s certainly not definitive, and it certainly is annoying, but Gary (Valentine) Lachman’s “Turn Off Your Mind:The Mystic Sixties and the Dark Side of the Age of Aquarius” is the most comprehensive book on occult influences on pop culture in the 60’s. His axe grinding is often deafening, but it’s well researched amd entertaining.
    3. Liked “Name of the Rose”, and many Eco essays, but HATED “Foucault’s Pendulum”. Found it dull and posy; after 200+ pages gave it up. You should give it a try, though - like Stephenson’s Baroque Trilogy, either it ‘takes’ with you or doesn’t.

12. Haeresis Says:
    April 26th, 2005 at 9:19 pm

    You’ll like Foucault’s. I think. In the end,it has a decidedly skecptical outlook, but it’s a great read and very thought provoking.